TIME IS VERY, VERY SHORT – Lula may give permission for GM planting at any time.

Please support the protests in Brazil.

USE THIS LINK: http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5 (any problems, just copy the whole link and paste it in to your browser)

It will take you to a form which will enable you to quickly send your protest to Lula.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE FARMERS, CONSUMERS, AND CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS OF BRAZIL.
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Brazil: Lula Between Greens and Farmers on GMC
Written by Agíªncia Brasil Tuesday, 28 September 2004
http://brazzil.com/mag/content/view/274/2/
Movements grounded in civil society raised their voices last week against the possibility of a new provisional executive decree (Medida Provisória – MP) authorizing the cultivation and commercialization of transgenic products in Brazil.

Last September 22, members of Greenpeace held a protest demonstration in front of the Planalto Palace, in Brasí­lia, to deter publication of the measure.

Brazilian groups belonging to social movements also sent a letter last week to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticizing the authorizing of genetically modified crops, also known as GMC, without any prior study of environmental impact or health risks to consumers.

In the letter, representatives of 11 groups, including the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) and the Brazilian Consumer Protection Institute (Idec), talked about their frustratijon.
Publication of the decree, according to them, would induce "profound frustration with the government [on the part of] individuals in Brazil and abroad who applauded the appointment of Environment Minister Marina Silva as an assurance that the questions of the environment and sustainable development would be taken up by the Brazilian government."

In 2003, under the imminent pressure of the start of the planting season, the government issued an MP authorizing the cultivation and commercialization of transgenic soybeans throughout the country.
Immediately thereafter, in December, it sent the National Congress its proposal for a Biosecurity Law to regulate research genetically modified organisms. The project was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in February, 2004.

In the Senate, where the bill awaits a floor vote, amendments were introduced which, according to the social movements, alter the essence of the government's original proposal.

The movements demand, for example, that the provision for labeling products containing transgenics be reinstated in the project.

It is now up to the government to judge what is the best solution for farmers who are awaiting authorization to plant transgenic soybeans in the beginning of October.
President Lula would be meeting in the coming days, in the Planalto Palace with the Minister of Political Coordination, Aloí­zio Mercadante to decide whether or not to issue an MP authorizing cultivation of the product in the country.
Translator: David Silberstein
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ACTION ALERT FROM GM WATCH
http://www.gmwatch.org

PLEASE TAKE ACTION!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE FARMERS, CONSUMERS, AND CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS OF BRAZIL.

(IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR ONLY ONE ACTION, USE THIS LINK: http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5
copy and paste the whole link into your browser if necessary)

Please send URGENT letters of protest (to the addresses below) asking the Brazilian President to keep his promise not to give permission for GM crops to be grown in Brazil.

Please also ask him to make sure that Brazil has effective biosafety legislation.

*Example letter below*

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS

If possible, please also e-mail copies of the letters you send to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you want to find out more about what's happening in Brazil, see: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4394

CONTACT DETAILS – please also consider sending faxes where possible.

President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Palacio do Planalto, 4' andar, 70150-900, Brasilia, DF, Brasil
Fax: 55 61 322 2314
Tel: 55 61 411 1201
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
You can also send messages to the President via this online form:
http://www.planalto.gov.br/falepr/exec/index.cfm?acao=email.formulario

Or e-mail Lula's advisors:

Casa Civil – José Dirceu
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Postal Address:
Palácio do Planalto – 4º Andar
70150-900 – Brasí­lia – DF

Secretaria Geral – Luiz Soares Dulci
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Postal Aaddress:
Pça. dos Tríªs Poderes, Palácio do Planalto
4º andar – Telefone: 411 1225
70.150-900 Brasí­lia ? DF

EXAMPLE LETTER
(FOR YOU TO CUSTOMISE IF SHORT OF TIME)

To the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

We are writing to express our strong support for the many Brazilian environmental, consumer and small farmer groups who are asking you to honour your previous statement that you will not grant "special permission" again for GM soya to be
planted in Brazil.

As you know, Carlos Sperotto, president of the Rio Grande do Sul's Agriculture Federation, has claimed that you will break this promise and that his farmers will plant GM soya in any case.

We understand and share your strong desire to reduce hunger. We know that you also place a strong emphasis on Brazilian exports but we believe your support for agricultural production is being taken advantage of – that you are being blackmailed into accepting the demands of those who, backed by multinational agribusiness corporations, wish to force GMOs onto Brazil, and who are using Sperotto and others to front their self-interested campaign.

Theirs is a deliberate attack on Brazil's national sovereignty. Geneticist Rubens Onofre Nodari, a professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, who also works in the Environmental Ministry's genetic resources section, has commented
that, "The government is being held hostage by farmers who feel free to do whatever they want."

We ask you to listen not to Sperotto but to the voices of your own Environment Minister and the many others who have written to ask you to respect the Precautionary Principle enshrined in the Convention on Biodiversity, of which Brazil is a
signatory. This requires that approval is not given to the commercial cultivation of GMOs without prior studies on the environmental impact and the risks to consumer health.

We not only support the call for no permission to be granted again for the indiscriminate planting of GMOs, but also call on your Government to restore the biosafety bill (Project Law) to the form in which it was originally approved by the Chamber
of Deputies back in February. The original bill guaranteed environmental security, consumer safety and national sovereignty, all of which will be devastated by the bill in its present modified form, which has become practically unrecognisable.

We also consider that it is of fundamental importance that local state governments be allowed to declare their territory GM-free if the people and the legislative assemblies opt for that, as has been the case in Santa Catarina, Paraná and
Goiás.

We also consider it vital that people have the right to labels on food products, showing whether they contain Genetically Modified ingredients or not. Such a law has already been approved, although not complied with, and will be revoked by the bill as modified in the Senate.

Brazilian civil society groups have written, "Mr. President, the alarming inconsistencies and mistakes that the government is showing regarding this issue leaves the organized civil society in extreme frustration and disillusionment with your government, both in Brazil and abroad". They also note that these are the same people that "applauded the nomination of the Minister Marina Silva as a guarantee that finally, the issues regarding the environment and sustainable development would be taken seriously by a Brazilian Government."

Please listen to their plea and show the courage and leadership to stand up for the long-term interests of the Brazilian people, rather than those of big business.

Signed